


The Misfortunes of Jisung

by lovelyknow (celestialdescendant)



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, Social drinking, crack fic but with plot, i promise i love you Han Jisung but you need to suffer for plot, just a little (or maybe a lot), story told in anachronic order, that means not in chronological order ohohohoho, the five+one times Jisung embarrasses himself in front of Minho, the things you learn when researching (procrastinating) for fanfiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:21:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26264893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celestialdescendant/pseuds/lovelyknow
Summary: With the stress from moving back to Korea plus midterms, Jisung was prone to embarrassing himself in front of really attractive seniors from school. Seniors such asLee Minho.In theory, it shouldn’t be that big of a deal because, while Jisung has seenLee freaking Minhoaround campus, they never interacted before. But of course the universe hates his guts and he kept encounteringLee frick-freaking Minhoalmost everywhere after that.They say once is an accident, twice a coincidence, and three times is a pattern. Jisung would like to add to that: four times is just flat-out bullying.
Relationships: Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Undisclosed & Implied Relationship(s)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 209
Collections: Jilix Ficfest





	The Misfortunes of Jisung

**Author's Note:**

> _prompt #7 : where jisung is on an elevator and minho ~~(or anyone else)~~ enters and says i love you so jisung out of cortesy says i love you back but then minho looks at him weirdly and points at his bluetooth (chaos ensues because jisung keeps bumping onto him at every occasion) _
> 
> Thank you to Iggy and Bee, my betas for this fic!
> 
> ABOUT SOME OF THE SIDE CHARACTERS: **Hyunjin** is genderfluid and doesn’t really have any fixed pronouns because she wants her pronouns to be as fluid as she is. Her default pronouns are she/her, if one is unsure of what she wants to be referred to that day. And **Felix** is my nonbinary they/them babie. There will be unspecified ships here, but I will say that the 00-line are simply each other's platonic soulmates so anything romantic you think you see with them doesn't exist.

_—three_

Jisung kicked open the door without a second thought.

“Pardon the intrusion, Changbin-hyung, but I need to scream.” His volume was definitely inappropriate for an indoors setting, but Jisung was Stressed so it’s justified. Jisung placed his bag carefully beside the sofa by the door (there’s a laptop in here, he’s not _that_ much of an airhead), flopped himself face-down on the sofa, and finally let out the aforementioned scream.

Jisung’s proud to say he held it for a full twenty seconds without pause.

It was five beats after his dramatics that Jisung heard Changbin, “You good now?”

“No.” Jisung turned to face the back of the sofa and began lightly tracing the designs with his finger. “I’m still stressed, let me mope.”

“You’re being a nuisance, that’s what. Sit up and talk to me, Jisungie.”

“I can’t even bring myself to sit up, that’s how demotivated I am.” Jisung whined loudly, kicking his feet up and down against the arm rest like a child. He noticed a black hoodie draped over the back of the sofa and pulled it towards him immediately. “Borrowing this!” 

“Jisungie,” Changbin sighed exasperatedly, “put that back.”

“No.” Jisung fluffed up the hoodie and used it as a makeshift pillow for his head. “I’m sad and I’m stressed and I want cuddles only a stuffed toy could provide, but I can’t go home yet because I have another lecture in fifteen minutes. Your hoodie will have to do.”

There was a beat of silence before Jisung heard the sound of a computer chair roll up to him. Without any further prompting, he felt fingers card gently through his hair. Jisung hummed and leaned up encouragingly into the gesture.

“Want to tell me about it?” Changbin-hyung’s voice was softer than earlier, tone lighter. It had an almost soothing effect on Jisung who felt himself grow a little sleepy.

“It’s just the usual stress from coursework and just a few events today that made me want to melt to a puddle, be reshaped into a rock, and thrown against the wall of the Archi Building.”

“That’s very graphic.”

Jisung was about to reply when, “well, that’s Jisung for you; he can be almost as dramatic as Hyunjin.”

… Wait.

“Hwang Hyunjin?”

“You met her last week, remember?”

Pause.

“Yeah, I actually had lunch with her and Yongbokie today. She was loud.”

“Yeah, that sounds like her.”

Despite protests from whatever self-preservation instincts he has, Jisung took a small peak at the person he thought was Changbin. Turns out it was _Lee frick-freaking Minho_! Thanks, universe!

No problem, Jisung. Here, suffer some more.

 _Lee frick-freaking Minho_ quickly noticed Jisung staring and smirked.

Help.

“Hey, Han Jisung, right?” Jisung didn’t even bother questioning how the senior got his name. Given how their worlds are apparently so conveniently entwined with each other, _Lee frick-freaking Minho_ could have gotten it from anyone at this point. At Jisung’s meek nod, The Smirk only grew. “Fancy that we keep meeting like this, huh?”

Jisung responded in the only way he was capable of at the moment: laughing awkwardly. Well, it sounded awkward to Jisung, but he hopes at least _Lee frick-freaking Minho_ doesn’t catch on it.

“Jisungie, you okay? You sound like a wheezing hyena.”

Thanks, Changbin-hyung.

“I’m fine,” Jisung muttered moodily. “Like I said, I’m stressed.” _And flustered as hell_.

“Aren’t we all,” _Lee frick-freaking Minho_ hummed to himself, and his hand went from Jisung’s hair to his forehead. Jisung watched, mayhaps a little too captivated, as the playfulness in the older’s expression weakened. “Oh wow, your temperature’s a little on the warm side. Are you sick?”

“No—”

“You’re sick?!”

“I’m not sick,” Jisung emphasized each word, glaring weakly at the farther occupant in the room. Changbin talked big about him being almost as dramatic as Hyunjin, but pot calling kettle black. “Exhausted, yeah, but not sick.”

“Should we bring you to the satellite clinic downstairs?” _Lee frick-freaking Minho_ mused. “You could say your head’s hurting and the nurse there will let you sleep on the cot. I do it all the time.”

Changbin made a comment about hyung being a bad influence to their juniors, but neither of the other occupants really paid him mind.

“Uhm, no thanks.” Jisung said, looking away briefly. “I don’t really feel like walking right now.”

“I can carry you.” 

Jisung suddenly got an image of being carried bridal-style by _Lee frick-freaking Minho_ and firmly decided that no, he will not put himself through that.

“Uh, no thanks, I’m good. Besides, I really just want to rest and the sofa is good enough for me.”

“You sure?”

Jisung was too gay for this.

Giving the most reassuring smile he could, “Yeah, I’m sure. Thanks for the offer, Minho-ssi.”

“I think we’re close enough already for you to just call me hyung.” _Lee frick-freaking Minho_ winked at him. Winked. “Don’t you think so, Jisungie?”

“R-Right. Hyung.”

Smooth, Han. Smooth.

“Just make sure you don’t drool on my hoodie.”

His hoodie.

 _Lee frick-freaking Minho’s_ hoodie.

Nope, yeah, definitely too gay for this.

Jisung suddenly pushed himself up into a kneeling position on the couch, startling the other occupants in the room. Minho even jumped in his seat and widened his eyes much like a cat’s, but Jisung refused to dwell on that. Let’s not go into how cute it made him too.

“Oh, shoot, I just remembered,” Jisung said, volume of voice once again inappropriately loud indoors, “I have to meet with Jeongin for an exchanging of perishable goods.”

“Exchanging what?”

“Are you sure you’re okay, Jisungie?”

No, Jisungie is not sure at all, Changbin-hyung.

“Please excuse me,” Jisung quickly grabbed his bag and bolted out the room, refusing to look back.

He knew he should have gone and sought comfort from Channie-hyung instead.

_—five_

“Good morning, Jisung-hyung. You’re looking quite lovely today. Did you have a good night’s sleep?”

Jisung simply gave the smirking barista the most unimpressed stare he could come up with. “You’re a piece of shit, Yang Jeongin.” The loud laugh Jisung got in response didn’t do anything to ease his mood.

“So was the night out with the other hyungs worth it?”

“Free food and drinks is always worth it, Jeongin.”

“Point taken. So, what can I get you today?”

Sighing deeply, “Just give me usual order but add four extra shots of espresso.” Jisung saw Jeongin wince when he gave his order, but said another as he got out his debit card from his wallet.

“Want me to mix in an energy drink with that too?”

“Can you actually do that?”

“Yes,” Jeongin replied with the most unamused look Jisung has seen from him. “But I won't ever do that, because I don’t want you to die an early death. You still owe me twenty free lunches.”

Jisung let out a dry laugh, “And here I thought you were finally going to say you like me, Jeongin. I like you so much, but I’m also so heartbroken.”

“Good, suffer.” Jeongin punched in a few more things in the register before reaching to accept Jisung’s card. “You sure you just want a drink?”

“Bokie made a hangover burger for me, so I really just need coffee since we don’t have it at home.”

“You really lucked out with Lix as a roommate.”

“Yeah, thank you for giving up your chance to room with Bokie for me.” Jisung said, tilting his head so Jeongin could see his smirk. “Don’t worry, they still like you more.” He would have believed the other was unbothered with what he said had he not seen Jeongin’s ears turn so red so fast.

“I’ll have your drink ready in a minute.”

“You’re the best, Jeonginnie,” he sing-songed away, not forgetting to get his card back from his now grumpy friend. Jisung even dared to skip over to an empty seat before his head started getting to him and he walked the rest of the way. Jisung was still going through his messages from the previous night when Jeongin finally called his name from the pick-up counter.

“I’ll pray for your taste buds,” was all he said as he handed him his drink.

Jisung rolled his eyes, “I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

Spoiler alert: he will not be fine.

Jisung stomped his way to the self-service counter, ignoring Jeongin’s all-too-knowing look. He was only a few feet away when an all-too-familiar figure with air pods in his ears walked over.

What were the odds of _the actual Lee frick-freaking Minho_ and him meeting _again_ after yesterday? Slim to none, obviously, but the universe just _loves_ to fuck Jisung over, right?

For a moment, Jisung contemplated throwing all shame out the window to save his taste buds. Was he more embarrassed by the events of yesterday than he is concerned about his taste buds?

Yes, yes he is.

Jisung only just turned around when he heard a voice calling for him

“Jisungie?”

As if he can ignore him now.

With a smile he hoped wasn’t as awkward as he feels, Jisung turned back around to face _the actual Lee frick-freaking Minho_. “Hi hyung! You come here often?”

Han Jisung, really? Has that corny-ass pick-up line ever really done you any good before? You’re lucky _the actual Lee frick-freaking Minho_ found it funny from the gorgeous smile on his beautiful face somehow and hasn’t run away from you.

“I’m usually not here this early, but I have a meeting with my adviser so I came for some coffee.” He even raised his cup for emphasis, which was kinda cute but that’s not relevant. Jisung nodded, faking nonchalance so hard right now.

“Cool, cool, cool, nice. Well, I, uh, have a class in a few minutes so,” Jisung pointed a thumb in the direction of the door, “I’ll just... be on... my way.” Was he slowly shifting in the direction of the door because he was nervous as fuck?

Yes, yes he was.

Of course some like _the actual Lee frick-freaking Minho_ noticed that and frowned. “Are you okay?”

“Definitely fine!” Jisung tried to reassure the elder, forgetting for a moment that he was holding hot coffee in his hands and so it nearly spilled into the floor. Luckily only a few drops fell, but Jisung still sends a mental apology to whoever has to clean that up later. “I just really don’t wanna be late to class, punctuality and all that shit, yaknow?” 

“Oh, okay. I’ll see you around then?”

Was that _the actual Lee frick-freaking Minho_ looking at him with a hopeful expression?

Nah, couldn’t be. They barely know each other.

“Maybe. I’ll be going now, bye hyung,” he spoke the last sentence in a rush as he turned around and left the cafe not fast enough.

What a great start to his day, huh?

_—two_

“For the record, if I’m not able to get a tiramisu from the caf today, I’m going to score you _so bad_ in the peer evaluations.” Hyunjin grumbled a little too loudly for Jisung to pretend to not hear. He rolled his eyes at her dramatics, but still managed to keep up to her hurried pace.

High heels could really narrow a person’s stride, apparently.

“And I told you, I’m still under recommendation by my PT to avoid stairs as much as possible. It’s not my fault—”

“—that your condo’s elevator took ten minutes to pick you up,” Hyunjin scoffed, “yeah, yeah, I heard you the first twenty times. But, if you had come in earlier to practice our report like we agreed, you would have noticed that your laptop was low bat and we wouldn’t have had to switch laptops mid-presentation. Then we could have finished before the lunch rush!”

Jisung let Hyunjin soak up the feeling of finally venting her frustrations out. “...You good now?”

“Just a moment, I’m still upset.”

“I’ll just buy you a tiramisu later,” Jisung offered, nudging Hyunjin lightly with his elbow. She ignored him the first two jabs but finally retaliated after the third. It didn’t hurt in the slightest so Jisung knew she wasn’t mad at him anymore.

“But I want the tiramisu now.” The whine Hyunjin had let out was so sorrowful that Jisung almost felt sorry for her; ‘almost’ being the key word there.

“There’s literally so many other places with better tiramisu.” Jisung grumbled loud enough for Hyunjin to have definitely heard, but she just ignored him.

“I only like the tiramisu here.”

“You’re stubborn.”

“I consider that a compliment.”

Unfortunately for Hyunjin (and by default Jisung), it seemed like everyone decided today would be the day to eat at the cafeteria. The food queue almost reached the entrance.

“Can you see if they still have tiramisu?”

“You’re the taller one between us, and you have heels. Why are you asking me?”

“Jisung, sneak to the front and grab me a tiramisu.”

“No way in hell.”

“But Sungie—”

“Jinnie, I swear to god—”

The sound of a throat clearing snapped the two out of their bickering. Felix was standing about two feet away from them with their own food tray in hand. Jisung noted that his roommate got themselves the chicken pesto meal, as they usually did every Thursday of the sem thus far. What was unusual, however, was the additional creamy brown cake on their tray.

“Lee Felix Yongbok-ssi,” Hyunjin said in the most serious Jisung has heard of her since their project proposal last period, “how much are you willing to sell that tiramisu for? I will pay triple. But I don’t have enough money right now, so may I pay in installments?”

Felix let out a laugh. “Calm down, Jinnie. I got it for you.”

“Really?” Hyunjin looked just about ready to kiss the ground Felix walked on.

“Yeah, really. I saw that there were only two slices left so I got it for you.”

“Bokie, my angel, my love, my sweet savior, you are heaven-sent.” Hyunjin was about to tackle Felix in a hug like Jisung thought she would, so he pulled her back by her bag.

He said to Felix, “You’re too nice to her, Bokie.”

“I also just wanted her to stop whining about it in our GC.” Felix’s mouth quirked upwards. “Minnie and I found a table near the vending machine so just go ahead there when you both get your food.”

“ _I love you, Lee Felix Yongbok!_ ” Hyunjin called out dramatically (and in English too), causing some heads to turn in their direction. Felix only laughed, but kept walking in the direction of the vending machines like they said. It was almost ten minutes later that Jisung found himself finally with his own food tray in his hands, a simple clubhouse sandwich meal because they ran out of curry. Heart is broken from no curry, but it’s better than the caesar salad that Hyunjin insisted on buying.

“Oh,” Hyunjin suddenly stopped in her tracks, causing Jisung to almost bump into her, “I left my drink back with noona!”

“I am not going back there now that we’re halfway to Seungmin and Felix.” Jisung deadpanned. They have been standing since their project presentation not too long ago, he is _not_ staying on his feet any longer than absolutely necessary.

Hyunjin rolled her eyes, “I’ll go by myself then.”

“I hope you trip so I can laugh.” Jisung teased, dodging a weak kick sent by Hyunjin. He was still laughing as he continued the walk to the table where his friends were seated. Jisung could clearly see Felix and their platinum hair seated diagonally in front of Seungmin, whose back was to Jisung. There was an empty seat beside Seungmin so Jisung plopped himself down there and immediately took a bite off his sandwich.

“Hello to you too, Sungie.” Felix greeted simply. “Hungry?”

“Just a little,” Jisung tries to say through his mouth full of food, but it ends up really muffled. Neither of his friends said anything about it, so he figures it should be okay.

He takes another large bite off his sandwich, not noticing a little of the mayonnaise seeping through and ending up on his cheeks. Felix likes to call them Jeekies (Jisung Cheekies), and Jisung likes to call Felix weird. But it’s from that weirdness why they’re best friends anyway, so it's good.

“You have a little something on your face,” Felix barely spared him a glance, too busy trying to twirl pasta with their fork. Jisung’s muffled response to that had Felix raising a brow at him. “No, it’s not handsomeness. You have mayo on your face.”

Jisung hummed and looked at his tray for something to wipe his face with. When he found none, he decided he’d just use the back of his hand. No biggie.

Before he could, a hand suddenly came up from the side holding a tissue and wiped the mayo from his face. And an attractive voice said softly, “Are you a child? Be careful when you eat."

Seungmin would have done no such thing.

Startled, Jisung turned to his helper with wide eyes and even wider cheeks filled with his sandwich. And lo and behold, _Lee freaking Minho_ is smiling at him amusedly with the tissue in hand.

"Hi there."

It's considered rude not to respond, right? Jisung swallowed just enough of the food in his mouth to be coherent when he speaks.

"Ah, hello." Turning to Felix, Jisung tried to downplay how mortified he was feeling, "is Minnie not joining us for lunch?"

"Had an emergency council thing or something.” Felix shrugged nonchalantly. “I panicked a bit because how was I going to save a table by myself, but Minho-hyung came by and saved me from my crisis.”

“Cool, okay, nice, understandable, okay.” Jisung was just rambling, looking everywhere but at Lee freaking Minho who kept at least one eye on him. Was there still something in his face??

“Do you really store food in your cheeks like that when you eat?” _Lee freaking Minho_ asked. His expression was so fondly amused that Jisung would have normally noticed had he hadn’t been too busy panicking at the closeness of their faces.

“Sungie’s the friend I was telling you that looks like a quokka, hyung.”

“I can see it.” The smile he sent to Jisung should be illegal, honestly.

“Oh wait, you two already know each other?” Felix looked back and forth between the two, a curious look on their face. Jisung opened his mouth to try and explain himself, but his seatmate was faster.

“Of sorts,” his voice was so nonchalant that Jisung thought he could survive this lunch without any more embarrassment. He should have known. _Lee freaking Minho_ then turned to Jisung and smirked, “apparently, he’s the love of my life.”

Jisung needs to go. Right now.

Felix blinked once in surprise, “Sorry, what?”

Run, little quokka, run.

“Oh hey, I just remembered I have to meet with one of my classmates for Psych!” Jisung dumped his drink and pudding cup in his bag, and grabbed whatever remains of his sandwich in his hand. It’s a shame that he has to leave his chips, but it’s a sacrifice he’ll have to make.

Felix blinked once more, “But you already finished—”

“I’ll see you back at home, Lix!” Jisung stumbled a bit as he got up from his seat. “And, uh, nice meeting you again, Minho-ssi.”

Jisung spun around so fast and almost ran into Hyunjin who was just finally coming back with her food, but he didn’t falter in his escape.

_—one_

The Misfortunes of Jisung began at a seemingly harmless elevator ride at his apartment.

Jisung had just come back from an almost-year-long exchange program his university had with another school abroad. He might get held back from graduating on time with his age-mates because some of his core subjects are only offered once a year, but it was worth it.

Especially since his parents were suddenly okay with letting him live away from home when he came back. His time abroad really did wonders for their separation issues. Now, Jisung is living in a two-bedroom apartment with his best friend and their Golden Retriever puppy on the nineteenth floor of a building that’s a 15-min walk to the campus. The agreement with both their parents was that they will pay for the apartment so long as they keep their scholarship, and so far so good.

Life is really good for Jisung.

Up until today, that is.

Jisung was riding the elevator down from his apartment, on his way to class early to practice their midterm group progress report when it stops on the fifteenth floor. The doors seemed to slowly open in slow motion and there stood _Lee Minho_. He’s a senior that goes to the same university as Jisung, and is a well-known, incredible dancer. They’ve never really interacted before, Jisung has always been too shy to approach him, and this is the closest they’ve ever gotten.

“Mhm, I love you.”

So of course you can imagine the absolute shock Jisung is to hear _Lee Minho_ say that to him as he walked in the elevator. I mean, that was to Jisung, right? There’s nobody else here with them? Oh shit, they just made eye-contact. He was expecting a reply, right? What do you even say to someone who just confesses their love to you???

“I love you too.”

Nice, Jisung. Nice.

 _Lee Minho_ just stares at him silently for a few seconds before a heart-stuttering smirk graced his features. He points to his ear, why’s he pointing to his—ah.

Airpods. He’s on call, and… yeah, Jisung just wants to disappear. Right now.

So Jisung steps out of the elevator as soon as the doors open even if it was still the tenth floor. 

Very nice, Jisung. Very nice.

Lucky him the chances of seeing _Lee Minho_ ever again is very slim so he should be fine to get over his embarrassment for the rest of the week.

He’ll get over this just fine. He’ll be okay.

_—four_

When Jisung went out for dinner that night with Channie-hyung, Changbin-hyung, and Seungmin, they told him about Lee Minho.

When Jisung was on the exchange program, Changbin-hyung had been the first of their friends to meet Minho. They were groupmates for a debate and ended up keeping contact even after their shared class was over. It wasn’t until Felix and Seungmin had met Minho the next semester when Minho became a part of their friend group. He was the TA in their Ballroom Dancing PE Class and would stay behind sometimes to help them (Seungmin, mostly) with mastering the choreography they learned.

“Do you know exactly how Felix ended up with that demon dog?”

Seungmin made a scoffing sound, but his eyes never left the meat he was grilling for them. “Hyung, just because Kiel chewed on your shoe one time doesn’t make her a demon dog. She’s really sweet, you’re just a coward.”

“I still stand with my beliefs,” Changbin whined, pouting cutely at Seungmin who didn’t even spare him a glance. “Whatever, anyway, Kiel demon dog, yeah? Her origin story?”

Jisung nodded, “Bokie told me they found her in a box just outside the campus. She had been injured then, but it was night and the nearest clinic was already closed so they got help from a neighbor to patch her up.”

Chan took a pause in his self-imposed mission to finish his first mug of night to point a finger at Jisung. “That was Minho—wow, that hit the spot.”

“Minho-hyung?” Jisung asked in surprise. “Does he have a dog?”

“He has three cats,” Chan corrected after another swig of beer (Lord help his liver). “But he mentioned that he had a dog before, so there was that. Yeah, so, it’s why Felix and Minho are close also because of their shared love for animals.”

“I see,” Jisung took a moment to process the information. “I’m surprised I haven’t seen hyung around much more if that was the case. It’s almost midterms and this is the most I’ve seen him than all the other weeks combined, let alone interact with him.”

Seungmin hummed, beginning to distribute the meat to their plates. “Well, Minho-hyung’s a graduating student so I’d imagine he’d be really busy now. We barely even see Changbin-hyung and he’s still third-year standing.”

“I barely see the sun too, you ain’t special.”

“And,” Seungmin continued as if Changbin hadn’t spoken, “Minho-hyung also took a part-time job at an adoption center store… thing.”

“He’ll hate you for not remembering where he works,” Chan said with a loud laugh. “He’ll say you don’t actually love or care about him. Remember when he found out you thought he only had one cat?”

“He needs to let that go, honestly. Bokie also didn’t realize he had adopted another cat for almost two months, but it’s me he still doesn’t forgive.”

“Nobody can get mad at Felix for too long, my Minmin.” Chan patted Seungmin’s cheek a little too carelessly for someone who still claims to be sober. “Also, you throw really fucking adorable tantrums when you get annoyed, so we all love doing it to you. Did you put lotion on your face, Minmin? Your cheeks are extra soft today.”

“Chan-hyung, shut up and eat.”

It continued a bit more after that, in between the grilling and drinking and eating and drinking some more, Jisung got to know more about Lee Minho. Not only was he an amazing dancer, Chan had sung praises (pun intended) on Minho’s voice versatility; the elder had requested help from Minho to help with some of his mixtape projects the previous year.

Minho was the one who really helped Changbin get into working out. They started the habit of going to the gym every other afternoon last semester, and have helped and motivated each other to get into the fitness life more. Cooking was still uncharted territory to Changbin, but Minho never complained when he cooked for Changbin after their joint sessions.

Seungmin spoke about how grateful he was for Minho’s help not only with PE, but with his other majors like statistics and Asian literature. It was really amazing because Minho apparently didn’t even take the subjects before; he would read up on the material Seungmin was studying and offer points and guide questions he made himself.

There was a lot to talk about. It was Minho who finally convinced Hyunjin to buy his first skirt, saying that he would beat anyone up if they talked shit about the taller. When Jeongin got his braces removed, Minho had treated him to all the food he wanted to eat that day. Apparently, nearly all the pictures Felix uploaded on social media before at the dog cafe were taken by Minho—they really love their animals.

Once, this asshole said Hyunjin and Felix only made it through the first round of the dance team auditions because the team only cared about visuals, so Minho oversaw the next day of the try-outs with a newly shaven head and baggy clothes from Changbin and Chan. Seungmin complained that Minho still looked good, so the point kind got lost, but it was the thought that counted.

Jisung didn’t realize he was kept asking more and more questions about Minho, but none of his companions made a comment and just kept delivering and delivering. And before they knew it, it was time for them to go home.

But first, toilet break.

Lucky for Jisung there wasn’t anyone in the bathroom when he arrived so he was able to relieve himself, wash his hands, and freshen up in no time. On his way back, you’ll never guess what happened to him.

If you guessed that Han Jisung bumps into _the Lee frick-freaking Minho_ and the two fall down on the floor with Jisung almost fully on top of the older, then you get a gold star! Congratulations!

“I gotta say,” _the Lee frick-freaking Minho_ said with a breathless laugh, looking so ethereal even with the restaurant’s moody lighting, “I never thought I’d fall for you so quickly.”

Jisung couldn’t get up fast enough.

“I-I’m so sorry for bumping into you, Minho-ssi!”

“It’s fine Jisung,” _the Lee frick-freaking Minho_ reassured. “And didn’t I tell you to call me hyung?”

“Uhhh right, sorry Minho-hyung.” With surprising confidence, Jisung offered a hand up to _the Lee frick-freaking Minho_ who accepted it without hesitation. “I’m still sorry about bumping into you, I should have paid more attention to where I was going. I probably should have maybe even come out from the bathroom earlier like I didn’t have to spend a minute fixing my hair. But you know that feeling you see your hair in the mirror and you look nice but there’s that one single strand that annoys you? Yeah I got that and struggled for an embarrassing time now that I think about it.”

Jisung swears he’s only slightly tipsy.

Then _the Lee frick-freaking Minho’s_ lips quirked upwards in a tiny adorable cute smirk. “Did you drink tonight, Jisungie?”

“Maybe. And if I did? Just a little. Why? I’m legal anyway. Is that bad? Do you not like drinking?”

Okay, maybe a little more than slightly.

“No, I don’t turn down a night of drinking if I’m with the right people,” he replied with a short but really sweet sort of laugh that makes Jisung’s insides warm. “I’m just a bit surprised you would drink on a Thursday night. Don’t you have classes tomorrow?”

“Oh, I do actually.” Jisung said, mouth moving before he could process it himself. “But Channie-hyung asked to meet up today and I don’t really have anything else due tomorrow so I thought, hey why not? I have a 3-hour lecture tomorrow morning, but it’s a small price to pay especially if Channie-hyung said he would pay for all our drinks tonight.”

“Channie-hyung? Do you mean—”

“OLDER MINMIN!”

Before anyone could react, Chan had flown in from god-knows-where and hugged _the Lee frick-freaking Minho_. Unfortunately for Jisung, that meant he ended up stuck between the two.

Now normally Jisung would be fine with being hugged tightly by his friends, but not when he’s chest-to-chest to the person the universe has cursed him to embarrassing himself in front of the whole day. Their faces also ended up really close together ( _really super close_ ), and if Jisung didn’t feel light-headed before his encounter, he sure did now.

“Hello to you too, Chan-hyung,” _the Lee frick-freaking Minho_ said with a groan at suddenly being manhandled into a hug. “Have you been drinking, hyung? You reek of cheap beer.”

“Say what you want about my drink of choice, but I get to drink more than you will with your expensive pink cocktails.” And just for added spite, Chan-hyung blew air at Minho that got even Jisung reeling.

“Channie-hyung!”

“You’re so gross, hyung,” but the laugh Minho let out was anything but annoyed. “Let go of me.”

“But if I let you go then how am I supposed to show my love to you and Jisungie?” Chan wailed, eliciting a flinch from Jisung at the volume. “I’ve been so busy working these days that I haven’t even spent time with my Minmin. Do you two realize how hard it is to go from seeing the love of your life almost everyday the past year to never seeing him in person for weeks? Okay, maybe not since you’re both single, but my point is—”

“I think you should bring Chan-hyung home,” _the Lee frick-freaking Minho_ whispered close to Jisung’s ear as Chan continued rambling.

“Right. Yep. Totally.” Jisung wiggled a bit so he didn’t have to strain so much to look at their mutual friend. “Channie-hyung, where is Minnie and Changbin-hyung?”

It took Chan a whole ten seconds before he could properly respond to Jisung’s question. “Outside,” he had chirped happily. “They said our taxi’s almost here and so I went back in to get you, Jisungie! I saw Older Minmin’s pretty orange hair ” In other words, Chan snuck back into the restaurant without the others knowing to find Jisung without having a clue where he could have been.

Jisung doesn’t want to think of the chaos that would have been him, Seungmin, and Changbin do in their state looking for Chan in the restaurant.

“Don’t you think they’re worried where we are right now then?” Jisung said slowly, trying to emphasize the importance of his question. “Don’t you want to spend more time with your Minmin?”

Only three seconds of processing this time around, “You’re right! Come on Jisungie, let’s go to my Minmin and Changbinnie.” Chan didn’t even hesitate to release them from his hug and grab Jisung’s arm to drag him to the entrance.

And just because Jisung was only a little more than slightly tipsy doesn’t mean he forgot his manners.

Turning back to _the Lee frick-freaking MInho_ , he was barely able to shout, “Bye, hyung!”

The smile-and-wave tandem Jisung got in response stayed with him all the way to his dreams. And even when he woke up with a splitting headache after only four hours of sleep, it was that smile-and-wave that Jisung remembers first about last night.

He really can’t catch a break.

Maybe some coffee would help.

_—one more time_

“Rough week?”

“What gave it away?” Jisung asked, voiced heavily laced with sarcasm. When he took a peek at his roommate, Felix didn’t look discouraged and only kept staring in concern. “I’m just tired from all these embarrassing coincidences that happened the past two days.”

“Anything I could do to help?”

“Not right now, no.” Jisung went back to staring at himself the reflectorized elevator doors blankly as he leaned on the doorway. “I just want this week to be over.”

“I still have some of the cookie dough from my stress baking episode last weekend, do you want me to use them up now?”

“That actually sounds really good.” Jisung was practically melting at the thought. “I could really use some comfort food right now.”

“Then how about a pizza and pasta night with the cookies?”

“You really are an angel.” Jisung said, pouting briefly in his roommate’s direction. “Pepperoni crunch and creamy carbonara?”

“Of course.” Felix stood next to Jisung and reached up to gently massage his nape. “You’re really stressed, wow. What happened this week?”

Jisung closed his eyes and hummed in thanks before answering simply, “Lee Minho happened.”

To Felix’s credit, they only faltered for a split second but otherwise continued their ministrations. “What did hyung do?”

“It’s not what he did,” Jisung frowned as he thought of the past forty-eight hours, “it’s mine.” He gave a brief run-down of events to Felix, who was considerate enough to keep comments to themselves until after the story time.

“That doesn’t sound as bad as I thought.” Felix raised their hands up in defense when Jisung directed a deadpanned look at them. “You just had a rough day, Sungie. It’s not the end of the world.”

Jisung groaned. “With my tendency to overthink, it might as well have been.” At that moment, the elevator let out a beep that it finally arrived to pick them up.

“Have you ever thought about actually talking with Minho-hyung?” Felix asked, stepping off to the side in case there were any previous passengers on board. There were five, one of which was a senior citizen with their guide to help them. Instinctively, Jisung kept the doors open for them with his arm and nodded once when they smiled at him in thanks.

It was when the elevator was finally empty that Jisung decided to answer Felix.

“No way in hell.”

“Why not?”

“I can barely look him in the eyes, what makes you think I can talk to him?” Jisung stepped into the elevator, pressed the button to their floor, and leaned on the back wall with his forehead. Who cares about germs when you’re drained as hell, yeah? 

“You never really shied away so much when talking to a stranger before,” Felix pointed out. If their voice somehow sounded a little too far away, Jisung didn't notice.

“It’s not that simple right now.” Jisung sighed, bumping his forehead once again on the wall. “Haven’t you ever been so embarrassed that you wished the ground would swallow you whole, chew you down into an unidentifiable mush, spit you back up, and have cars run over you?”

“It’s never usually that graphic, but I think I understand the feeling.”

… That was not Felix.

Jisung spun around so fast he grew a little disoriented, but his brain still managed to scream _IT’S THE ACTUAL LEE FRICK-FREAKING MINHO, DUMBASS_ when he locked eyes with the man who’s been haunting him these days. Immediately, Jisung felt his cheeks heat up.

“When did you—” Jisung turned to the elevator entry and saw Felix smiling at him apologetically. They were standing a few feet farther than where Jisung had last seen them and barely managed to say “you’ll thank me later, Sungie,” before the doors closed. And suddenly, Jisung was alone with _the actual Lee frick-freaking Minho_.

Here lies Han Jisung, dead due to embarrassment brought about from the betrayal of his roommate. May he rip in pieces.

“Before you decide to get off on the wrong floor again,” _the actual Lee frick-freaking Minho’s_ voice sounded throughout the closed space and brought Jisung back to the present, “I want to apologize if I made you uncomfortable in any way.”

… Huh?

Jisung must’ve looked as confused as he felt because _Lee frick-freaking Minho_ kept talking.

“I’m right to assume that you were embarrassed from our first meeting, right?” Jisung didn’t respond, which in itself was enough of a telling to _Lee freaking Minho_ , apparently. “Yeah, that was on you, but I might have done something wrong the other times we met because you would almost always run right after. I’ve been told that my teasing and jokes can be too much, so I’m sorry for that. I’m not that good at first impressions.”

Jisung scrambled a bit to reply, “You didn’t do anything wrong, hyung. Really!” He got a disbelieving frown in response so Jisung continued explaining himself. “Okay, maybe some people don’t like being teased or joked with so much on first meetings, but none of those really bothered me! It’s really all because of you.”

“Was that supposed to make me feel better—”

Jisung flapped his hands around, “That came out wrong, but I meant to say that your mere presence and actions leave huge impacts on me and I get really nervous.”

Lee Minho blinked once, twice, and thrice to be sure. “I make you nervous.”

Nodding furiously, “Sweaty palms and heart beating fast and everything. It doesn’t help me either that you’re ridiculously pretty because that adds more to my nervousness. Ask Jinnie, he can vouch for me. He’ll even tell you that I almost punched him when we first met.”

“You what?” He let out a laugh as he said that, like chimes twinkling in the wind. “Seriously?”

“It’s true!” Jisung also laughed a bit at the memory. “We were in high school and I just realized I was really gay, so Jinnie suddenly giving me a hug and spinning me around after I won our class the race was the worst thing for me.”

Fondly, “I would imagine.”

“It was a good thing Minnie and Bokie were there to mediate between us, honestly.” Jisung shook his head exasperatedly, “Knowing how stubborn I was in high school, I probably wouldn’t have settled things with Jinnie then and we wouldn’t be friends now.”

“And now?”

“Now?” Jisung asked, confused by the question.

Minho smiled at him, “Do you think we would still need Seungmin and Yongbokie to help mediate the misunderstanding between us?” He kept eye contact as he asked this, and it was taking everything in Jisung to not fluster and look away.

“I mean,” Jisung waved his hand in faux nonchalance, “I’d like to think that I’m better than I was back then. And we’re talking together right now, so that’s already one step done.”

“Then,” Minho’s eyes twinkled, “shall we proceed to the next step?”

“Next step?”

“Or a starting over, if you want to be more technical.” Minho winked at him, nearly sending Jisung into a cardiac arrest. “Hey, I’m Lee Minho. I’m a senior in Miroh University, and I am the older brother of three beautiful cats.”

Jisung couldn’t help but smile. “Nice to meet you. I’m Han Jisung, a sophomore also in M.U., and I need an iced americano every day or I might not survive.” That got him a laugh, and Jisung felt himself warm all over.

“Then how about we go for coffee some time next week?” Minho offered, tilting his head cutely to the side. “My treat, since I asked.”

“I’d really like that, hyung.”

The elevator suddenly slowed its ascent and they both looked up at the analog screen for the floor number they were at. Fifteenth, but Jisung and Felix’s apartment was still five floors up so it must have been—

“This is my stop,” Jisung turned back to Minho in time to see him adjust his bag. “So, the coffee, how about Saturday next week?”

“I should be free next weekend.” Jisung wasn’t actually sure of that, but he’ll burn the bridge when he gets there. “Is it okay if I get your number from Felix so I can confirm it with you?”

“Sure, just don’t sell it to randos on the internet when you get it.” Jisung rolled his eyes at Minho’s lighthearted laughter, but waved him off politely anyway. And Jisung thought they were going to leave it like that, a little unusual for a farewell, but nothing about their meeting was usual anyway. At the last moment, however, Minho turned around just as the doors were closing and sent a heart-thumping smirk in his direction. “Yeah, I’ll see you around, _love_.”

 _Ahh_ , Jisung finally gave in to his weak knees and slumped against the elevator wall, _I am so fucked_.

**Author's Note:**

> [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.qa/auscelestially); [moodboard](https://twitter.com/auscelestially/status/1310701183464476673)


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